Yeah, and mine is just snap and POP! No more crackle... not really sure when the crackle went away. Oh well - I just had one of those birthdays last week that my family insisted on celebrating - for purely sadistic reasons! And I didn't even care - that's the sad part!

I guess the snap will go next!

Old, old Jim (Still looking for an ancient, decrepit looking emoticon for here...)

I'm not *that* old. And I try to keep fairly active. Even so, it's annoying to stretch after sitting for a few hours, and something in my shoulders and neck makes a sound like an old mechanical music box being wound up followed shortly after by a 'pop' best described as the sound a deadbolt makes when it's unlatched.

Used to scare the hell out of me until I conditioned myself to stop worrying about it.

I'm not *that* old. And I try to keep fairly active. Even so, it's annoying to stretch after sitting for a few hours, and something in my shoulders and neck makes a sound like an old mechanical music box being wound up followed shortly after by a 'pop' best described as the sound a deadbolt makes when it's unlatched.

I'm not that old (or so I keep insisting) and I've long since lost the love of turning another year older. I don't usually completely space my birthday but perhaps that's because, like your friend, someone will remind me. I'll tell you though, I've had a hard time keeping track of my age since I was 19.

I'm not *that* old. And I try to keep fairly active. Even so, it's annoying to stretch after sitting for a few hours, and something in my shoulders and neck makes a sound like an old mechanical music box being wound up followed shortly after by a 'pop' best described as the sound a deadbolt makes when it's unlatched.

I'm not that old (or so I keep insisting) and I've long since lost the love of turning another year older. I don't usually completely space my birthday but perhaps that's because, like your friend, someone will remind me. I'll tell you though, I've had a hard time keeping track of my age since I was 19.

But as you get older (and I don't mean standing at Death's door) it suddenly dawns on you one day that there's a significantly smaller number of them before you than there are behind you. And you now realize on a very deep and personal, rather than a purely intellectual level, that they will be coming to an end much sooner than you originally thought. At which point, they all become much more precious.

When you're flush, you tend not to count your change. When you're down to your last $1000, you look at calendars - and start watching every penny.

Maybe that's one of the reasons why, as people get older, they appear more "sentimental" or maudlin to those who still haven't realized (on a gut level) that they really won't be living forever. As in: really... won't...be.

It's not so much older people get sentimental. It's more like they've just been...humbled by the realization that nothing is going to last forever. Not even them.

Your child's 18th birthday, when you can legally throw them out of the house. Which is why parents that can't remember their own age, tend to remember the ages of their children (at least till they move out).

Back when I was growing up, the drinking age was 18. That was the target, and we all waited for it. However... Two weeks, before my 18th birthday, the state legislature raised the drinking age to 19. Hence I did not get "Grandfathered in".

So... I waited another year ... When they decided to repeat the same friggin stunt, again...and raised the drinking age to 21. Needless to say, I was pissed.

Mind you, I had started drinking in bars back when I was 16 ... So this was seriously over complicating my evenings having to duck the fuzz every friggin 5 minutes when they decided to (yet again...) raid my favorite bar..